Safety pin carding machine



1933' w. VON CONTA SAFETY PIN CARDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 7, 1930 4Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR. mm Can/m, BY 441 61 .19 M

ATTORNEY MMQ mum

g- 1933- w. VON CONTA SAFETY PIN CARDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 7, 1930 4Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 15, 1933. v w VON CQNTA 1,922,608

SAFETY PIN CARDING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed on. 7, 1930HHIHHHHHHHmIn,

INVENTOR. Wafllkmm (0411/ BY 7% v9 cam ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 15, 1933UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application October 7,

8 Claims.

The present invention relates to a machine for carding safety pins orthe like.

It has been common practice in preparing safety pins for the market tomount the same in convenient numbers such as dozens or the like onsuitable cards. The safety pins as they come from the manufactory areusually closed and the method of mounting such pins upon said cards hasbeen a manual one which involved the operation of first opening the pin,mounting the latter on said card and then closing the said pin again.This procedure of course has been a time consuming one, adding to thecost of the manufacture of said pins. I am aware that there have beenprevious attempts to develop'a machine which would accomplish the aboveindicated. manual operations. However, to the present time nosatisfactory machine for so doing has been perfected.

One of the primary objects of the present invention is the provision ofa machine wherein the closed pins coming from said manufactory may bedirectly inserted into a new machine, automatically opened therein,mounted on the cards and closed again and then removed in cardedcondition from said machine.

A further object is the provision of a machine whereinthe'abovedescribed operations may be carried on with minimum expenditureof time.

Still another object the provision of a machine wherein simultaneouslythe requisite num ber of pins may be mounted on respective cards.

A further object is the provision of a machine using a step by stepsequence of operation whereby, ifnecessary, the individual steps aboveenu merated may be controlledhy the operator.

A further object is the provision of a machine provided withintermittent drive mechanism so devised that at each step of theintermittent drive the sequence of steps above enumerated occurs inchronological order at the respective operationai positions of saidmachine.

Still another object is the provision of novel means in the said machinewhereby the cards be fed to the mounting position and likewise removedfrom the latter without being damaged.

Yet another object is the provision of novel control means for causingthe enumerated se-- quence of steps to occur.

And still another object is the provision of a machine in as simplifieda form as possible whereby the cost of manufacture is reduced to minimumand stoppage periods due to the failure of parts or the like is likewisereduced to a minimum or entirely eliminated.

With the above and many other objects in. View, which will be apparentfrom the following disclosure, my. invention comprises the novelcombination, arrangement and construction of elements to be hereinaftermore fully described.

1930. Serial No. 487,073

and shown in the accompanying drawings and defined in the appendedclaims.

In the accompanying drawings which form part of this specification andin which similar reference characters denote corresponding parts:

Fig. 1' is a diagrammatic top plan view showing the general lay-out ofmy machine;

Fig. 2 is a section along line 2-2 of Fig. 1 sho ing also a part of thedrive mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail showing the pin mounting mechanism.

at is a partial top plan view of the portion of the pin mountingmechanism formed or mounted on the rotary table;

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail of one of the drive control means;

Fig. 6 is a section along line 6-6 of Fig. 5 seen in the direction ofthe arrows;

Fig. '2 is a section along line 7-7 of Fig. 1 showing in detail the pinopening mechanism;

Fig. 8 is a perspective detail of the one of the cam guides of said pinopening mechanism;

Fig. 9 is a section along line 9-9 of Fig. 1 showing in detail themechanism for mounting the cards to the pins and also for closing saidpins after said cards have been mounted thereto;

Fig. 10 is a sectionaldetail along line l0 l0 of Fig. 11 of the cardmounter seen in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 11 is a front view of said card mounter;

12 is a partial sectional view along line 12-12 of Fig; 1 seen in thedirection of the arrows;

13 is a section along line l3--13 of Fig. 12;

1 1 is a section along line l4 -14 of Fig. 12;

Fig. 15 is a partial sectional view showing in detail the control forthe card feeding mechanism and is a section along line 15-15 of Fig. 1;and

Fig. 16 is a sectional detail along line 16-46 of Fig. 1 showing thecard remover mechanism. Referring now to the mechanism shown in thedrawings 10 denotes a horizontally mounted table circular in form, andprovided with a plurality of equispaced segments, shown in the presentinstance as live in number, though any convenient number of four or moremay be employed. The segments are formed with straight edges 10 alongthe circumference of said table. Each of the straight circumferentialedges 10 has a cutv away portion 11 having at its bottom the shoulder 11provided with curved recesses 11 the latter forming rests wherein therounded spring ends of the pins may rest. Projecting downwardly from thecenter of the table through a suitable bearing 12 on the frame F of themachine is a shaft 13 to which is mounted at its lower end a cam roller14. Also fixedly mounted to said shaft above the said roller is a gear15 for a purpose hereinafter to be described. A second bearing 16 on'themachine frame is arranged intermediate the ends of said shaft 13 inwhich the latter is also rotatably borne. Mounted about said shaft andbetween the lower edge of the bearing 16 and the top face of gear 15 isa compression spring 17 which tends to continuously urge said shaft 13downwardly into the lowermost slidable position.

In the position marked I in Fig. 1 of the drawings, I provide ahorizontally slidable member 18 which is adapted to cooperatesuccessively with p the respective straight edges 10 of the table as thelatter is rotated. The said member has a front edge corresponding inlength to that of said straight edges 10 and. formed along said edge area plurality of transverse grooves 19 so admeasured as to permit pins tobe mounted therein and having a depth equal to or slightly greater thanthat of the depth of the cut away portion 11 of said table. Along thebottom of said grooved edge the slidable member 18 is cut away as at 19so that the shoulder 11 of said table 10 may project therein when saidmember 18 is in operative position. When the latter is in operativeposition, i. e., when the grooved portion of the edge thereof projectsinto the cut away portion 11 the operator may insert closed safety pinsin the respective grooves 19 with their heads up and the spring ends ofthe latter rest in the curved recesses 11 in shoulder 11'. This affordsconvenient means of properly arranging the pins on the table 10. Nowthen, in order to retain the said pins on said table after they havebeen arranged the following means are provided. Slidably mounted throughsuitable openings 20 in the table 10 are a plurality of plunger members21 each of which is provided at its upper end with a laterally extendingarm 22, which is in vertical alignment with one of said curved recesses11 Formed near the free ends of said arms in the lower faces thereof arerounded indentations 22'. Projecting laterally from each of saidplungers 21 in opposite direction to the arms 22 are second arm members23 which slidably engage ver tical guide posts 24 which later aremounted to the table top. Suitably mounted on the said posts 24 arespring means 25 which continuously tend to urge arms 23 and consequentlyarms 22 and the plunger 21 into their lowermost vertical slidablepositions. When the said arms 22, are in said lowermost positions theheads of the respective pins become engaged in the indentations 22whereby the pins are rigidly held between said shoulder and the arms 22.When so engaged it is possible to remove the slidable member 18 withoutdisturbing the pins and the latter are now mounted to the table 10.After the pins are so mounted on the table the table must be moved orrotated to the next position marked II in Fig. 1. Before this can occurthe slidable member 18 must have been moved backward so that the tableis cleared and the table 10 must have been moved upwardly. In order toaccomplish the above indicated sequence of steps I employ the followingdrive mechanism.

A shaft 26 extending parallelly to the direc tion of reciprocal motionof the member 18 and suitably journaled in bearings attached to theframe of the machine is provided. Mounted on the said shaft intermediateits ends and direct-- ly in vertical alignment with the roller 1-1 andadapted to cooperate therewith is a cam 2'7. The shape of the cam willbe hereinafter described it sufiicing for the present to state that thefunction of the same is to move the table 10 up and down during certainpredetermined periods. Also fixedly mounted to said shaft 26 ineccentric manher is a gear 28 which latter is adapted to mesh with gear15 only while table 10 is in its uppermost position thereby imparting apartial rotation to the latter sufficient to bring it to the nextsucceeding operative position, e. g. from position I to position II inFig. 1. Likewise mounted to said shaft 26 is a second cam 29 forimparting reciprocal motion to the slidable member 18 in a manner to behereinafter described.

The member 18 which may be of a thickness approximately equal to thethickness of the table 10 is slidably engaged between two parallellymounted rails 30 which latter are suitably supported from the frame ofthe machine. Also projecting from each of the lateral edges of saidmember 18 and adapted to extend between and through the guide rails arepin members 32. Pivotally supported below said table member pref- 1erably centrally located with respect to the lateral edges of said tablemember and on the frame of the machine is a double armed lever 32, theupper of whose arms is divided into two fork branches 32 which branchout and extend upwardly along the outer edges of said two rails 31 andengage the respective pin members 32. The other arm 32 of said leverprojects downwardly and at its free end is provided with a cam roller 34which latter is adapted to engage the cam 29. Means for continuouslyurging the member 18 forwardly against the table 10 is provided and mayalso in the present instance comprise a spring or springs 35 mounted atthe rear of member 18 and engaging a cross bar. 36. Thus by suitablerotation of cam 29 reciprocal motion of table member 18 may be obtained.

A third cam member 3? is mounted on shaft 26 between the twoaforementioned cams 2'7 and 29 and this cam is employed for operation ofthe pin clamping members 22. Mounted in a slide 38 to the frame abovethe cam 37 is a cross bar 39 so admeasuredin length asto engage all theplungers 21 and provided with a plunger 40 the lower end of the latterhaving a cam roller 41 which latter is adapted to engage the surface ofcam 37. A plate 38 attached to the slide 38 is provided through whichthe plunger 40 slides and a suitable spring means42 serves tocontinuously urge the roller 41 of said plunger against said cam 37. Thecrossbar 39 is so situated that when the pin mounting mechanism isdirectly opposite the starting position I the plungers 21 thereof willbe in vertical alignment with the former so that when the table islowered and the plunger 40 is actuated by'its cam 37 the plungers 21will be moved upwardly to their uppermost position so that the operatormay freely insert the pins into the respective grooves 19 in member 18when the latter abuts on the straight edges 10' of said table 10.

After the pins have been mounted to the table the latter is rotated in amanner to be presently described, carrying the pins to the positionmarked 11 in Fig. 1 whereat the pins are adapted to be opened. Themeansfor opening the pins at position 11 may comprise the followingmechanism:--

Provided at said position II is a horizontal slidable carriage 43 whichlatter is adapted to slide in suitably arranged guides 44. The front endof said carriage is provided with a laterally slidable portion 43 whichhas over its entire front edge a resilient strip 43 made of rubber orany other suitable material which may taper to a pointed edge as shownif desired. This resilient edge is adapted when the carriage is slidforwardly to engage the free arms P of the pins held in the table 10.The motion which must be imparted to said edgeis as follows:-

It must be. moved forwardly until pin arms P of the pins are pushedclear of their respective locking heads P Thereafter the edge must bedisplaced laterally and then moved rearwardly in displaced lateralposition permitting the pin arms to come free from the heads and therebyopening the said pins. -fter the pins have been opened the edge must bereturned to its initial position. Suitable cam means to be presentlydescribed serves to reciprocate the carriage to produce the forward andbackward movement of said edge. In order to obtain the lateral motion ofsaid edge one of the guide rails 44 is provided at its end with a cammeans having a shape which is as follows:-

The said cam means comprises two straight grooves a and a parallel tothe reciprocatory direction of motion of the carriage 43 and separatedby awall b said wall however, being shorter than the length of either ofsaid grooves so that they communicate with each other both at theirfront and rear ends. The rear end of said groove a tapers at a to rejoingroove a. Pivotally mounted to the rear end of wall D is a wall sectionb which is spring actuated and prevents entry into slot a except throughits forward end.

The lateral slidable portion 43' of the carriage member 43 hasprojecting from one of its sides an arm 45 to which is mounted a pinmember ,46 which may have a cam roller 46 formed thereon which latter isadapted to move in the grooves a and a Suitable spring means 45 tends tocontinuously urge said roller 46 toward the far side of said grooveedges. It will readily be seen that the requisite motion of edge 43 isobtained, for when the carriage 43 is moved forwardly edge 43 engagesthe pin arms P of the pins while roller 46 is in slot a and continues tomove forwardly until said pin arms are clear of looking head P at whichtime roller 46 will clear the forward end of wall b and spring 45' willlaterally shift member 43 causing the pin arms P which are still inengagement with edge 43 toclear the heads P The roller 46' at the sametime enters groove (1 Then when carriage 43 is moved backward, saidmember 43 moves backward while still in laterally displaced positionuntil the pin arms P are in front of heads P and then roller 46 engagesin the slanting portion a of groove a and moves past hinged wall D backinto groove a to its original position and at the same time member 43comes clear of pin ends P. The pins are now open. From position II thetable may be rotated'aswill be described until the opened pins carriedby it will be brought into the position marked III in Fig. 1 whereat thecards are to be mounted onto said opened pins and there after the cardshave been mounted the pins are closed. The card mounting mechanismcomprises as shown in Figs. 9, 10 and 11 the following: i v

Slidably mounted between two rails 47 in grooves is a slidable platemember 48 which is adapted to be moved to and from the table 10. Formedat the forward end of said plate member 48 is the card mounter 49. Thefront curved face 49 of the latter is formed with a plurality ofequispaced transverse grooves 50 so as to guide the open pins arms Pduring the card mounting operation.

Resiliently mounted along the lower edge of said face 49 is a. pin guidemember 51 which has a plurality of transverse grooves 51' in alignmentwith grooves 50 and whose lower ends are flared as at 51 so as to guidethe open pin ends P into said grooves 50 and facilitate the mounting ofthe cards on said pins.

The interior of the card mounter 49 is formed with a plurality ofpassageways 49 which terminate in the open ends 49 along the surface ofthe curved face 49'. passageway converge to a common outlet 49 to whichlatter may be attached a suction line 52 connected to a suction pump(not shown). A suitable control valve 53 closes an auxiliary opening 54to the outlet 49. When the valve 53 is opened by having its free endabut a suitable stop 55 the air stream is drawn in through opening 54and suction action existing at the openings of the passageways 49 isreleased; The curved edge 49' is provided at its two upper corners withhanging lips 56 and along its entire bottom edge with a lip 56' and alsowith a stop member 57 near one edge whereby the pinmounting cards pushedinto the curved edge 49' may be accurately positioned for a purpose tobe presently described.

The guide rails 47 themselves are displaceable frame mounting. The freeend of said arms is provided with a cam roller which engages a suitablecam or cams 60 which serves to reciprocate said arm and consequentlysaid rails 47 in the direction of the arrows A of Fig. 9. Adapted toengage the rear end of slidable member 48 is an arm 61, the free end ofwhich pivotally engages in a slot 62 in one arm 63 of a double armedlever 63 suitably pivoted as at 64. The other arm 63 has provided at itsfree end a cam roller 63 which engages in a suitable cam 65 mounted onthe same shaft as said cam 60 and said cam 65 serves to reciprocatemember 48 in the direction of the arrow B of Fig. 9. It will be seentherefore that motion imparted to the card mounter 49 is a rectangularone for the sequence of operation of motions imparted to the said memberis first to move it forwardly by sliding member 48 then downwardly bymeans of the moving guide rails 4'7, then rearwardly by again movingslidable member 48 and then upwardly by again moving guide rails 4'7. Inthe cycle of motion just described in the following operations occur:

On the forward motion of slidable member 48 the card mounter 49, onwhose face 49', a card has been previously mounted as will be presentlydescribed, is moved forwardly directly over the open pin arms P. On thesecond motion which is the downward one the pins enter the guide grooves51 through their flanged lower ends, thence through the punched holes inthe curved cards held on said mounter 49. When the rails 47 reach theirlowermost position the valves 53 is opened by striking the abutment 55so that the card is now only loosely held on mounter 49. Thereafterintermediate the downward motion of mounter 49 and the second rearwardmotion of the latter a pin closer to be presently described must comeinto operation. After the The other ends of said pinsare closed the cardmounter 49 is moved rearwardly as previously described and then movedupwardly returning to its initial position. However, before the saidcard mounter moves rearwardly, the means for opening the valve53 inorder to release the suction action from the card held in said mounter49 is actuated as above described.

The pin closure means above mentioned is also cam controlled and maycomprise the following:

Slidably mounted in suitable guide members 66 is a member 6'7 to thefront end of which is mounted a laterally slidable member 68 and whichlatter has mounted at its front edge a resilient strip 69 or othersuitable material for engagement with the open pin arms P. This strip 69must move forwardly to engage the pin arms P after the card has beenmounted thereon and before the card mounter 49 has been withdrawn. Themotion which the strip 69 must follow in the closing operation is asfollows:

After engaging the pin arm P and before the latter reaches the head Pthe pin arm P must be displaced laterally and then moved forwardly.until it is well behind the catch of the head and then moved laterallyin the opposite direction until the pin is directly in line with thecatch mechanism and then the member 69 must move rearwardly permittingthe pin to be caught by said head. The lateral motion is produced in amanner similar to the manner in which the pin opener is moved laterallyby provision of a pin member 70 projecting laterally from one of theside edges of member 68 and provided at its ifree end with a cam roller'71 which latter engages in a cam groove 72 formed in one of the guidemembersfifi. The said groove has a doubled armed lever 72 pivotallymounted therein and tends by means (not shown) to continuously 1imaintain the oblique position shown in Fig. 1.

The groove is divided into the straight portion d parallel to thedirection of reciprocal motion of member 67, the oblique portion 01 andthe third portion d and the cam roller '71 moves Lin the said grooves inthe order named thereby .which engages a cam '75 mounted on the sameshaft as earns and 65.

After card mounter 49 has cleared the table 10 and" the card has beenmounted on said pins and the latter closed the said table is again:rotated to the next succeeding position wherein a. are adapted to restwhen the table 10 is lowered into position IV whereby the members 22will be raised, releasing the heads of the pins from the indentations22. Suitably mounted to the frame of the machine in pivoted manner aretwo levers 77 which project upwardly and are adapted when table 10 is inits lowered position to lie between the table edge 10 and the back faceof the cards. A suitable cam 78 controlled in the manner to be describedis adapted to actuate an arm 79 which is connected to both arms 7'7 and1,922,eos

' serves to intermittently actuate the latter arms to strike off thecard mounted pins from the table 10 when said'pins have been released bythe members 22.

A suitable chute (not shown) may be provided at this position IV intowhich the card mounted pins may fall, to carry the latter to suitablepacking position.

The card feeding mechanism which is used to feed cards to the cardholder 49 may comprise a container 80 in which the cards C are held andwhich are urged toward the outlet end of the container by any suitablemeans of well known type such as spring or weight operated pushers. Thetop of said holderis provided with a partial cover 80 to prevent thecards from being pushed out therethrough. Adjacent the uncovered portion80 of the holder and in proximity to'the edge 80 of said container butarranged slightly higher than the latter and adapted to bridge the gapbetween said edge 80 and the side of the curved face 49 of card mounter49 when the latter is in its normal position is a shaper 81 whichstartsat said edge 80 as a flat surface and gradually changes itscurvature in progressively increasing degree until at its other end itscurvature is equal to the curvature of surface 49 whereby a fiat cardfrom said container upon being slid along said surface gradually becomesincreasingly curved so that when it emerges from said shaper it may bedirectly slid onto said surface 49 which at this instant is in directalignment with the outlet opening of said shaper. To guide said cardalong said shaper suitable tracks 81" are formed about said shapersurface which permit only one card at a time to be drawn along thelatter.

The means for sliding the cards from holder 80 over said shaper and ontosaid surface 49 may comprise a slidable suction head 82 guided on atrack 33. Thesaid head is displaceable laterally away from the cards inthe container and is provided with spring means 84 or other suitablemeans for continuously urging it away from said cards in said holder 80.A suitable cam roller 85 at the free end of said head is adapted to rideon a cam surface 86 whereby said head is urged'towards said cards in theholder when it is directly over the uncovered portion 80 of said holderwhereby the top card of the pack in said holder 'is gripped by saidhead. As soon as the head ismoved in the direction of shaper 81 theroller 85 rides off cam 86 causing the head to be displaced and to'carry with it the top card which is slid out from the pack over theshaper and onto the surface 49. The reciprocal movement of head 82 maybe controlled by a crank arm 87 which latter is pivotally mounted to arotatable plate 88 driven in turn in a manner to be presently described.The suction action through head 82 may be released when the latter hasmounted a card on surface 49 by a suitable valve 89 which strikes afixed arm 89 at this time. Suitable means (not shown) of well knownconstruction may be provided for keeping this valve open until the headreturns to normal position.

Having now described the requisite sequence of operation and apparatusused with the various steps it becomes incumbent to describe the drivingmechanism for accomplishing the sequence of operations of the variousmechanisms.

A suitable main driving shaft 90 is provided which may be driven througha gear 91 from a power source represented by gear 92. The ends of shaft90 are each provided with a disk 93 respectively which form parts offriction clutches 94 and 95 and each at its front face has a frictionsurface.

Slidably mountedon one end of shaft 26 on a bushing 96 is a friction'head 97 adapted to engage the corresponding friction surface of disk 93and is adapted when so engaged to transmit the rotary motion of shaft 90to shaft 26. Slidably and rotatably mounted over said bushing 96 is acollar 98 which hasa projecting wing 98 which latter is formed with alaterally extending pin member 98 for a purpose to be presentlydescribed. A suitable compression spring 99 is mounted on saidbushingbetween head 97 and collar 98. To slide said collar 98 and consequentlysaid head 97 into frictional engagement with said friction disk 93 onearm 100' of a double armed leversuitably pivoted as at 100 may engagesaid collar 98. The other arm 100 is connected by a bar 101 to an arm102' of a double armed lever pivoted to the frame F as at 102. The otherarm 102? of said lever may be formed at its end as a foot pedal 103 orwith any other type of operating handle. Depression of said pedal causesthe clutch head to engage said friction disk and thereby permitstransmission of power to shaft 26.

It is necessary that the motion transmitted to shaft 26 be just a singlerevolution each time the foot pedal 103 is actuated and to accomplishthis the following expedient is employed.

Fixedly mounted on the shaft 26 adjacent the rear end of collar 98 is acam' 104 which merely comprises a disk on the face .104 of which thereis provided a depression 104 The pin 98 on callar wing 98 is adapted torest in said depression 104 and when it is therein the friction head 97does not engage disk 93. As soon as the pedal 103 is actuated aspreviously described, the head 97 engages said disk 93 and the said pin98 clears the depression 104 and as soon as the said shaft 26 rotatesthe pin can no longer engage in the depression but must ride along thesurface 104' which is fiat until the depression again registers withsaid pinwhich only occurs at the end of a complete revolution whereuponthe pin reengages the said depression and permits the friction head 97to disengage disk 93. To cause further rotation the operating pedal 103must again be depressed.

The shape of the cams 27, 29 and 37 must be such and they must be sotimed relative to each other on shaft 26 that when rotation is impartedto said shaft, first, plunger 40 is lowered by cam 37 so that the pinsare engaged between arms 22 and shoulder 11. Immediately thereafter cam29 must actuate slidable member 18 and move it away from table 10 and soretain it until the end of the revolution. Immediately after cam 29 hasacted, cam 27 must raise table 10 and keep it in raised position untilgear 28 meshes with gear 15 and rotates said table to carry the mountedpins from station I to station II at which moment the table will againbe lowered tonormal position.

At this same time, cam 29 will have reciprocated member 18 into normalposition again and cam 37 will have raised plunger 41 to operate thenext succeeding group of plungers 21. The exact form of said cams ismechanical detail which does not form part of this invention.

with shaft 26 and 90 at the other end of the latter is a shaft 105 whichhas formed at its end adjacent the shaft 90 the clutch mechanism 95identical with the clutch mechanism 94, and controlled in the samemanner to produce a single revolution by a cam 106 which engages a pin107 on a collar 197 which is identical with collar 98. One arm 108 of adouble armed lever is pivoted as at 108 and is pivotally connected tothe collar 107 as at 168 A double armed lever pivotally mounted to theframe as at 109 is also provided and the arm 109 thereof pivotallyengages an operating bar 110 which at its other end engages arm 108 ofsaid first named double armed lever. The other arm 109 of said secondnamed lever is formed at its free end with a fork 111. Slidably mountedin the bearing 16 is a plunger 112 which is continuously urged upwardlyby a spring 113. Slidably mounted on said plunger and adapted to liebetween the fork arms 111 is a collar 114 provided with oppositelyarranged pivot pins 115 which suitably engage the fork arms 111. Thelower end of said plunger 112 is hollowed out interiorly and providedalong the side edges with slots 112. Pivotally mounted in each of saidslots is an L. shaped arm 116 one arm of which extends longitudinally inthe direction of its respective slot and the other arm of which extendsinwardly into said hollowed out portion of said plunger and the freeends of the inwardly extending arm, by a pin and slot connection, engagea plunger 117, which latter is slidably mounted in suitable bearing 113for longitudinal sliding in said hollowed out portion of said plunger.Ihe said plunger 117 extends beyond the lower end of the plunger 112 andsuitable spring means 119 tends to continuously urge the said plungerinto its lowermost position. In this latter posi tion the L shaped armswhich are parallel to their respective slots 112 protrude beyond thesurface of said plunger so that when the latter is moved downwardly thesaid arms engage the collar 114 and consequently force arm 109downwardly. A suitable abutment 120 attached to the machine frame in thepath of the end of said plunger 117 is provided and as the said plunger112 moves downwardly the lower end of plunger 117 will come in contactwith the abutment 120 and be forced upwardly relative to the plunger112, thereby causing the said arms 116 to be rotated inwardly andpermitting the collar 114 to slide upwardly over the plunger 112. Theupper end of plunger 112 is actuated by a suitable collar 120 attachedto shaft 13 so that when the table is lowered the above sequence ofsteps occurs. It will thus be seen that when the table is lowered, whenthe latter almost reaches the lowermost position the arm 112 is actuatedcausing the lever 109 to be pushed downwardly consequently causing thelever 108 to be rotated so that the friction clutch 95 is actuated andthe pin 107 is pushed out of indentation in cam 106 whereby the shaft105 is rotated just one complete revolution.

Keyed on said shaft 105 is a bevel gear 121 which is coupled by anotherbevel gear 122 to a shaft 123 on which latter is mounted the gear 124which meshes with a rotatable gear 125 which latter meshes with a gear127 mounted on shaft 128 on which cams 60, and are mounted. A bevel gear129 is mounted on shaft 128 and meshes with a bevel gear 120 on a shaft131 on which the cam 132 is which imparts through the double armed lever133 the reciprocal motion to member 43. Also keyed to shaft 105 is agear 134 which meshes with a gear 135 mounted on a shaft 136 whichlatter has keyed thereto bevel gear 138 which latter is mounted on shaft139 on which cam 78 is mounted.

In order to drive the card feeding mechanism I provide a gear 140mounted on shaft 90 meshing in. turn with gear 141 mounted on a shaft142! which is suitably supported. The shaft 142 has fixedly mountedthereto a second gear 143 which latter meshes with a gear 144 which isrotatably mounted on a shaft 145. Said gear 144 is adapted to impartrotation to shaft 145 through a suitable clutch 146, which is controlledin a manner to be described. Shaft 145 also has fixedly mounted theretobevel gear 147 which meshes with bevel gear 148 fixedly mounted onshaft149 which also has fixedly mounted thereto a bevel gear 150 which lattermeshes with a bevel gear 151 fixedly mounted to the shaft which carriesplate 88. If therefore the clutch 146 is thrown in the plate 88 andconsequently the said feeder is actuated.

The control means for operating the clutch 146 comprises a doubl armedlever 152 fixedly mounted to a rotatably borne shaft 153. One arm 152'of said lever pivotally engages a collar 154 slidable on shaft 145 whichlatter through spring means 155 is adapted to actuate the slidableengaging portion 146 of said clutch 146. The other arm 152 engages in acam which comprises a circular disk 156 having an annular ring 156projecting therefrom which is provided with a slot 156 in which lattersaid arm 152 normally rests when the clutch is out as shown in Fig. 15.This cam arrangement serves the same purpose as cam 106 to limit therotation of shaft 145 to a single one.

Fixedly mounted to shaft 153 is a lever arm 157 which is adapted to beactuated by a earn 158 mounted on shaft 105 and which in simplest formmay comprise a laterally extending pin .159

' mounted on said cam 158 which trips arm 157 once for each revolutionof said cam thereby actuating clutch 146. When arm 156 is tripped arm152 is rotated out of slot 156 and retained out of the latter untilshaft 145 completes a revolution whereupon said arm 152 reengages insaid slot and said clutch automatically is thrown out. The tripping ofarm 157 is timed to occur at the end of a complete revolution of shaft105.

It is seen that for each three revolutions of the main shaft 90 acomplete cycle of operations is carried out at the four operatingpositions of the table. In order to prevent confusion it is necessarythat means be. provided which will prevent the operator from actuatingpedal 103 until the completion of the revolution of shafts 26, 105 and145. One means of accomplishing this may be the following:

Connected to arm 102' is a laterally projecting arm 159 which may be.engaged by a pivoted catch member 160. Pivotally engaging said catch asat 160 is a solenoid plunger 161 which extends through a solenoid 162and is adapted to be drawn into the latter when said coil is actuated.Said plunger is continuously urged forwardly by a spring 163 to causesaid catch member 160 to engage arm 159. An extension 161 extendsrearwardly from said solenoid and is formed with a notch 162 in which apawl 163 may engage. Said pawl is actuated by a lever arm 163 connectedto bar 101. Said pawl is adapted to engage said notch and normallyretain catch member 160 out of engagement with arm 159. When the pedal103 is actuated, said pawl is tripped permitting catch 160 to be urgedinto operative position. Thereafter pedal 103 cannot be again depresseduntil catch 160 is released by actuation of solonoid 162., The leads 162and 162 therefrom lead respectively to the one terminal of a powersource as a battery 13 and to a stationary contact 164. The otherterminal of battery B leads a second stationary contact 165. Both saidcontacts may be insulatively mounted on the bearing 166 which supportsshaft 145. Mounted on said shaft 145 is a disk or wheel 167 which hasinsulatively mounted thereon a bridging contact 167 'which latter isadapted onceduring each revolution of said shaft 145 to bridge thecontacts 164 and 165 thereby completing the electric circuit of thesolenoid 162 and drawing catch member 160 into inoperative position. Thesaid contact 167 is so mounted on disk 167 as to complete said circuitnear the end of the revolution of shaft 145 and then open the circuit ofsaid solenoid again. Thereby little current is used for operation ofsolenoid 162.

The shape of the cams 60, 65 and must be such and they must be somounted relative to each other on the shaft 128 that in a singlerevolution of said shaft, first of all cam 65 moves the card mounter 19forwardly, and then cam 60 moves it downwardly to mount the card on theopen pins. Then cam 75 actuates the pin closer mechanism reciprocatingit once. Thereafter cam 65 moves said card mounter rearwardly and thencam 60 moves said mounter upwardly into its original position. The exactshape of said cams is mere mechanical design. 7 Cam 78 must actuate theejector arms once during each revolution of shaft 139 and may comprise apin 78 projecting laterally from the cam face 78 which strikes arms 79once each for revolution of said shaft.

Cam 132 must reciprocate the pin open member 43 once during a singlerevolution, and may have a shape approximately that shown in Fig.

7. Its'exact shape too is mere mechanical decontinuously running. Cam 37moves down and 7 causes the pins to be gripped by arms 22. The cam 29moves member 18 clear of table 10 and cam 27 raises the latter and gear28 meshes with gear 15 and rotates the pins in the respective stationsto the next succeeding one, and then table 10 is lowered by cam 27 tooriginal position and member 18 is moved again into engagement withtable 10 and plunger 40 is again raised by cam 37. At the same timeshaft 105 has been coupled to shaft 90 while 26 has become uncoupledtherefrom. Coupling of shaft 105 through the previously describedgearing arrangements sets into operation the pin opening mechanism inposition II, the card mounting mechanism and pin closing mechanism inposition III and the ejecting mechanism in position IV. Upon completionof the single revolution of shaft 105, the card feeding drivingmechanism is tripped by cam 158 and. the latter completes feeding of afresh card to mounter 149 in a single revolution of shaft 145 whereuponpedal 103 is released so that the operator may repeat the triplesequence of rotary motions started by depression of said pedal.

To insure accurate stopping of the table at each station, pin 168 on theframe F may be provided which engages a hole 169 in the table 10, eachtime the latter is lowered. There are five such holes in said table onefor each edge 10 of said table.

It is obvious that my invention may be varied in many ways Withoutdeparting from the spirit thereof and I do not wish to be limited to thedetails shown and described.

What I claim is:--

1. In a machine for carding safety pins, a movable table having alongits circumference a plurality of bearings to bear safety pins invertical position with the spring arms thereof extending in front ofsaid table, means for holding said safety pins in operative position,said means comprising a horizontally movable member capable of engagingsaid spring arms, movable means opposite one of said bearings foropening the spring arms of said safety pins and positioning them infront of their locking heads, movable means in front of another of saidbearings for mounting a card over said open spring arms including meansfor reengaging said spring arms with their locking heads, and means infront of a still other bearing for removing the carded pins from saidtable.

2. In a machine for carding safety pins as per claim 1, in which saidtable is rotated step by step so as to bring the vertically mountedsafety pins successively opposite and in cooperation with said safetypins opening means, said card mounting means and said safety pinremoving means.

3. In a machine for carding safety pins as per claim 1, in which saidmeans for opening said spring arms comprise a reciprocatory memberhaving a laterally movable portion adapted to engage said spring armswhen said disengaging means is moved against said safety pins.

4. In a machine for carding safety pins as per claim 1, in which themeans for mounting a card on said safety pins comprises a memberreciprocatory in two directions and a card. holder mounted on saidmember adapted to receive a card.

5. In a machine for carding safety pins as per claim 1, in which saidcard mounting means comprises a reciprocatory member having a laterallymovable edge adapted to engage said opened spring arms and. close thesame when said member is reciprocated.

6. In a machine for carding safety pins, as per claim 1, in which a cardfeeding means is provided, comprising a card container, a reciprocatorygripper adapted to move said card from said container to said cardmounting means, and means intermediate said container and said cardmounting means for shaping said cards so as to be pierced by said openspring arms of said safety pins.

7. In a machine for carding safety pins as per claim 1, in which saidcard mounting means comprises a member capable of reciprocatory motionin two directions, a card holder mounted on said member and adapted toreceive said card, said holder having a curved surface on which saidcard is held and suction means for holding said card thereon until thelatter is mounted on said open spring arms.

8. In a machine for carding safety pins as per claim 1, in which thecard mounting means comprises means for shaping the cards prior to theirbeing mounted on the open arms of said pins, said card shaping meanscomprising a guide member having successively increasing curvatures.

WALTHER VON CONTA.

